


technical difficulties

by junhoonie



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Customer Service & Tech Support, M/M, johnny is a tech guy, okay, ten needs tech help, working in a tech store
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-02
Updated: 2017-09-02
Packaged: 2018-12-23 03:50:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11981535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/junhoonie/pseuds/junhoonie
Summary: ten's kind of clueless when it comes to this kind of stuff. it's a good thing johnny can help himalt.johnny is a tech worker. ten's remote doesn't work. taeil is infuriated.





	technical difficulties

taeil liked his job. at first, when taeyong had offered him a spot at his tech aid firm, he'd been unsure about it, after all, he knew next to nothing about technical stuff or how to fix it. luckily, the job wasn't to go out and fix things (he feared he'd break them more) but instead to answer the phones and then send out someone who actually knew what they were doing to help. 

this left a little scope for his favourite - and technically unofficial part of the job. the matchmaking. 

taeil was proud to say that he was one of the reasons that caller doyoung and tech helper jaehyun had just celebrated their first year together. he was the reason that jisung - an apprentice that always trailed taeyong on calls out - would now admit that  _yes_  he had a crush on zhong chenle, who called for his mother sometimes. even mark lee, one of the most emotionally constipated teenagers he had ever met, was asking after lee donghyuck (who always called for the most ridiculous reasons - how could someone not realise you had to change batteries in a remote) every time he clocked in for his saturday job.

there was only one person he was having trouble matching, and that was johnny seo. every time he sent johnny out to help a caller he'd return shaking his head 'not for me'. taeil, at this point, just thought he had impossibly high standards. 

 

.

 

the phone rang out across the office as everyone returned from their lunch breaks, and taeil did a little sprint to get it in time. "hello, this is lee tech aid, how can we help you today?"

 "hi!" the voice on the other end was cheerful and most likely male. "um... i'm calling because my tv remote - yeah tv remote - it's not working anymore, and i don't know what i've done?"

 taeil frowned. "if this is another prank call-"

 "it's not! my remote genuinely isn't working!"

 "have you tried changing the batteries?" 

 "batteries?" the caller echoed.

 taeil sighed, bringing a hand up to his forehead. "i'll send someone over to look at it as soon as possible. i just need to get your name and address."

 "name's ten, 23A waverley flats. thank you!" the caller was about to send the call, or so taeil assumed, when he suddenly screeched. "no, pepsi! don't chew that!"

 taeil hung up, spun his wheelie chair round and yelled "where the hell is johnny seo?"

 from round corner, johnny poked his head out his cubicle. "what's up?" 

 taeil grinned. "i've got a call out for you, 23a waverly flats, someone called ten."

 "oh, okay." johnny stood, stretching slightly, and taeil scowled at his height. "i'll just grab my kit and head over there now." 

 "great!" taeil called after him, turning around to answer another phone. "hello, lee tech aid, how can i- go away lee donghyuck!"

 

.

 

ten thought he was a reasonably smart guy. sure, he wasn't about to win any prizes for being some crazy genius, but he had managed to make it through three years in a foreign college, learning korean at the same time he learnt about dance education and first aid, so he did have some brains.

however, when it came to techy stuff, he was  _very_  uneducated. sure, he could work an iphone, and he knew how to record things on the tv, but that was where his technological knowledge came to an end. 

this is why, after twenty minutes of pointing his remote at the tv with no result, ten started to search the yellow pages for a tech help company. finally he found one, lee tech aid, and he dialled the number.

it rang five times before there was an answer, a cheerful sounding man greeting him. "hello, this is lee tech aid, how can we help you today?"

"hi!" ten said back, trying to sound like he hadn't just spent the last twenty minutes mourning the loss of his remote, and match the other guy's cheerfulness. "i'm calling because my tv remote." he paused, wondering if the korean was right. "yeah, tv remote. it's not working anymore and i don't know what i've done?"

the man on the other end sighed, suddenly sounding a lot less cheerful. "if this is another prank call-"

"it's not!" ten interrupted quickly. "my remote genuinely isn't working!"

"have you tried changing the batteries?"

"batteries?" he repeated, lost.

another sigh. "i'll send someone over to look at it as soon as possible; i just need your name and address." 

"ten," he answered, eyes drawn to the cat that was currently sauntering over to his phone's charging lead. "23a waverly flats. thank you!" he brought the phone away from his ear, ready to hang up, when he saw what his cat was now doing with his charging lead. "no, pepsi! don't chew that!"

in the time running up to the tech guy's visit, ten opted to tidy up a bit. there was a huge pile of clothes in the corner of his living room from the last time sicheng came to visit; they were quickly stashed away in his bedroom. pepsi, after careful observation of what he was doing, decided to slouch off somewhere, hopefully to sleep until  _after_ tech guy had left. 

it was around twenty minutes later that there was a knock on his door, and ten ran to open it, gaping at who stood in front of him. 

it was an unfairly hot guy, tall with black hair swept to the side. ten gulped. "hello?" he said, and the hot guy smiled. 

"i'm johnny, from lee tech aid." he replied. "you are ten, right?"

"yeah!" ten nodded, pushing down whatever feeling was in his chest, and moving aside to let the other guy in. "come in!"

he followed after the man - johnny - for a second, until he stopped walking and ten remembered that johnny wouldn't know where he's going.

"living room is just there," he gestured to the one open door in the entrance way. "do you want anything to drink?"

"a coffee would be nice." johnny answered, shooting him a dazzling smile. 

"okay, coming up!" ten squeaked, scurrying to his kitchen to calm himself down. johnny watched the other man go with a low chuckle. he was cute. 

a few minutes later ten was pressing a steaming, mustard yellow, coffee mug into johnny's hands. "do you need any sugar or anything?" 

"no thank you, you're sweet enough." johnny replied sweetly, and ten felt his heart plummet into familiar territory. he had known johnny for less than ten minutes and already he was developing a crush. great. "so," johnny started after a few awkward minutes of silence. "what exactly is the problem?" 

"oh, um." ten dithered for a second, the guy on the phone had definitely been judging him for being stupid on the phone, ten didn't want johnny to do the same. he searched hard for an intelligent response. "uh, the control stick is not calibrating with my visual television set?"

johnny looked confused, and ten wondered if he had butchered the korean, or somehow switched back to thai without realizing. maybe he had somehow dug up his old english knowledge and used that. "could you maybe repeat that in less...technical terms?" johnny asked, and wow, ten felt stupider than if he'd just said it outright. 

"my remote isn't working." he mumbled, and johnny instantly brightened up again. 

"oh! so it's a case of run down batteries." he said. "i can fix that right away!" 

"great." ten sniffed mournfully, watching as johnny went to pick up the remote and inspect it at a closer range. "i meet a cute person and then they're only in my life for ten minutes." he said to himself, following after johnny to watch and learn. 

 

.

 

"there." the taller man smiled again. ten was smitten. "all fixed up now. don't hesitate to phone us again though. i'll make sure i'll get sent out." that was accompanied with a wink, and if ten's knees wobbled, he tried not to show it. 

"great!" he repeated from earlier, his tone much more upbeat. "i'll create more problems - i mean - if i find any more problems, i'll let you know." 

another warm, toothy smile which ten found himself returning wholeheartedly. he walked johnny back to the door, suppressing nervous giggles. "oh, before i go," johnny said, pulling out his phone. "it would mean a lot if you filled in this customer service survey. just how nice i was, all that jazz." 

"sure!" ten answered, taking the phone. to be honest, he was little disappointed upon hearing that, what if johnny was just being nice and not flirty, what if he was like that with everyone? his jaw visibly dropped when he was confronted with the 'add new contact screen?' 

"is this...?" 

"you don't have to if you don't want too!" johnny said quickly, trying to keep his expression neutral, though ten could see a little disappointment leaking through. "i just, well, you're cute. i would love to take you to coffee one day?" 

"was mine not good enough?" ten joked, already tapping in his number. "there. i'll expect a text." 

"i won't disappoint you then." another wink, then johnny was gone, and ten finally felt his knees give way. he leant against his front door, grinning to himself. 

 

_**half an hour later.** _

 

johnny strolled into the shop, whistling a tune under his breath. mark looked up from the counter, where he totally  _wasn't_  waiting for taeil to tell him donghyuck called. 

"did you get a date?" he asked, and johnny shook his head. "taeil won't be happy." 

"taeil shouldn't be so invested in other people's love lives." he replied. "it's actually quite concerning. maybe i should find him help."

"i heard that!" taeil called from the other room. "and by the way i hate you!" 

mark subdued a laugh, and johnny rolled his eyes. no, he hadn't  _really_  gotten a date, not yet. he brought out his phone to text ten, ignoring taeil's lecture on how hard he worked to find johnny a partner. 

**to: ten**

_so,, about that coffee?_   

**Author's Note:**

> lmao if you got through this trash then i apologise  
> this is going to be part of a 'lee tech store' series so hmu with the next pairing i should do  
> come holler at me on tumblr [ donghyucklees ](http://donghyucklees.tumblr.com)


End file.
